From U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,046 A, it is known to stack printed sheets that are to be transported along a transport path in a shingled formation by blowing blown air underneath the trailing end of a leading printed sheet, and sliding a subsequent printed sheet underneath the raised trailing end of the printed sheet preceding it.
DE 10 2004 007404 A1 discloses a method and an apparatus for guiding sheets to a sheet-processing machine, wherein the adhesive force between two successive sheets in a shingled stream of sheets is diminished by raising the trailing edge of the first sheet.
DE 10 2009 048928 A1 discloses an inkjet printer for printing onto sheet-type substrates, wherein the printer includes the following components: a) a printing couple transport apparatus having at least one revolving printing couple transport belt, guided via rollers and having openings, and a suction chamber apparatus located below the printing couple transport belt, wherein the printing couple transport belt or printing couple transport belts include(s) an autonomous drive unit, which impress(es) a speed upon the transport belt or transport belts, b) an inkjet printing device located above the upper drum of the printing couple transport belt, which is guided approximately horizontally, c) a transport apparatus, located upstream of the printing couple transport apparatus in the transport direction of the printing sheets/substrates, having at least one revolving belt, wherein the transport belt or the transport belts include(s) an autonomous drive unit, which impress(es) a speed upon the transport belt or the transport belts, wherein the ratio of the speed of the printing couple transport belt or printing couple transport belts of the printing couple transport apparatus to the speed of the transport belt or the transport belts of the transport unit located upstream of the printing couple transport apparatus is selected such that the printed sheets or substrates for all sheet formats provided for the inkjet printer come to rest end to end or spaced from one another by a slight distance of up to 10 mm on the printing couple transport belt or printing couple transport belts.
EP 0615941 A1 discloses an apparatus and a method for continuously conducting individual sheets of corrugated cardboard through an aniline printing section and a punching section, while the alignment of each sheet is maintained in each processing section.
DE 10 047040 A1 discloses a modular printing press system for printing onto sheets, including a first printing press of satellite construction having a central first impression cylinder and at least four printing devices assigned thereto, a second printing press, and a coupling device for coupling the printing presses to one another for the inline operation thereof, wherein a non-impact printer is assigned to a transport unit of the printing press system for transporting the sheets. The transport unit is constructed for transporting the sheets along a linear transport path, for example. The transport unit has, e.g. at least one clamping gripper, which rests on the side of a sheet held in said clamping gripper for printing on said side by the non-impact printer, said clamping gripper having an ultra-flat construction so that, as the sheet is being transported past said non-impact printer, said clamping gripper can be guided collision-free through a narrow gap formed between said non-impact printer and the sheet.
DE 10 141589 B4 discloses a method for operating a sheet-processing machine, in which the sheets are displaced in the transport direction and are handled in a plurality of processing stations, wherein the displacement speed of one sheet can be adjusted independently of the others, wherein the speed of one sheet is adjusted in each case to match the processing step to be carried out in the respective processing station, and wherein the speed of a sheet is different in at least two of the processing stations. The processing capacity of the individual processing stations may be the same during a specific time period, or the processing capacity of a first processing station may be greater or less than the processing capacity of second processing station located upstream or downstream, during a specific time period.
WO 02/48012 A2 discloses devices for aligning sheets, which are fed to the device after being offset from one another in shingle form by a shingling device, and which can be transferred to a device that is located downstream after alignment of the front edge and one lateral edge of the sheet. At least part of a sheet can be brought to rest on the periphery of an alignment cylinder, which is used to align the front edge of the sheet by means of front lay marks located on the periphery of the alignment cylinder. At least one recess is provided on the periphery of the alignment cylinder, which, by the application of a negative pressure to said recess, allows at least part of the sheet to be fixed by friction on the periphery of the alignment cylinder, in such a way that in the contact zone, drive forces from the alignment cylinder can be transferred by friction to the sheet. A measuring device determines the offset of a lateral edge of the sheet in relation to a predetermined set alignment. A transverse displacement device is used to align a lateral edge of the sheet in accordance with the measurement result of the measuring device. The acceleration and/or speed and/or angle of rotation of the drive motor for driving the rotation of the alignment cylinder can be controlled or adjusted according to predetermined laws of motion, in particular in accordance with the angle of rotation of the alignment cylinder.
EP 2516168 B1 discloses an apparatus for holding and carrying along a printing substrate for a printing press, comprising a conveyor which includes an endless belt formed by a plurality of hollow box structures extending transversely and having a flat outer face, and including means for driving the belt and means for guiding the box structures, such that the flat outer faces of the box structures that circulate over a flat, longitudinal path form a flat upper surface for holding the printing substrate, the box structures having a plurality of external openings in their outer face and at least one internal passage in their inner face opposite their outer face; and a suction device which is suitable for cooperating with the internal passages in the box structures traveling over a longitudinal suction region that corresponds to at least a part of the flat, longitudinal path, so as to generate suction through said external openings in the box structures traveling over said longitudinal suction region.